White foam

[addy1]

Nice job vertigo..........a nice learning curve.

 

[stroppy]

think you should change your nick from vertigo to the inventor

 

[vertigo72]

Tried fine-tuning it yesterday, with and without brush, with and without irrigation tubes, moving the airstone up and down, but nothing I did seemed to matter. It will work like stink for 10 minutes with foam coming out as if its an icecream machine one minute and without touching it it will produce absolutely nothing the next few hours. Makes it all guesswork.

Anyway, it does work, here is what it produced on one rainy morning:

 

[fishin4cars]

Oh yea, That's what you wanted to see! I've read the that others have the same issue trying to find a balance in their Foam Fractionators, My little one seems to produce more in the early morning hours. But It looks like yours is producing in five hours what my produces in a few days!!!! Great job!

 

[vertigo72]

Do you do anything with the foam? I let the foam break down (partially at least, it lasts a more than a day) and ended up with a water bottle full of dark brown / black liquid, like strong coffee. I assume its full of proteins ? Would it be suitable as plant fertilizer? Any chance its too strong, or a clue how much Id have to use?

 

[fishin4cars]

I really don't know Vertgo, I have been dumping mine every four or five days over in the lilies where I back flush. Actually I never though about using it on the plants, But I can't see why it would hurt. I do know it stinks like all get out if it sits there to long!!!:lol:

 

[vertigo72]

I was actually surprised it doesnt carry any smell whatsoever. Yet - I guess
Anyway, I was just thinking that it might be too concentrated. Like pouring a bottle of fertilizer on a plant will kill it. But ill give it a go on some plant I dont mind losing.

 

[addy1]

It is probably good fertilizer, no chemicals, all biological matter. Bet your plants love it

 

[stroppy]

I was actually surprised it doesnt carry any smell whatsoever. Yet - I guess
Anyway, I was just thinking that it might be too concentrated. Like pouring a bottle of fertilizer on a plant will kill it. But ill give it a go on some plant I dont mind losing.

try it out on just one plant then if its too strong you dont go killing all of them :lol:

 

[kougs]

Here is another version that I'm in the process of building. It's a lot lower to the ground.
http://www.thepondforum.com/showthr...Cheaper-Phoam-Phraxionator!***?highlight=docs

 

[koiguy1969]

heres an.easy build ...same style....in action

these arent something i'd wanna leave running...after the initial clean up use, just a couple days here and there to keep up with the DOCs and put it away.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

OK these foaming contraptions are new to me, but I'm having the same issues as the OP... cream-colored foam and way too many particulates in the water (it's started turning cloudy this past week). So I'm curious... from what I just read, it sounds like the foam lifts the particles out of the water? Has there been a how-to written up yet?

 

[pecan]

I have what appears to be the same thing as Vertigo. I get about the same amount of foam and it builds up where my falls are. There is almost none during the day, but as the sun goes down the foam begins to build. I have two pumps running to two skippies that empty into a small bog then small stream and over the falls into the pond. The pond was cleaned and a 50% water change done in mid March, 1 skippy is fully planted with lots of plants on top and the mini bog is fully planted. No UV, no skimmer, no trees and water is clear.

I am not too concerned as I think once more plants grow it will solve itself, but I might be wrong?

I also heard the DOCs could be responsible for raising ph if your ph is higher than the tap you filled the pond with, do you all think that sounds feasible?

 

[addy1]

I would think as your bog matures it will take care of the docs for you. I have none, a few bubbles where the waterfall hits the pond water, like 3 or so at any time.

There was some foam when I first turned on the pond for the summer, it went away in about two days.

 

[Waterbug]

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) comes from various places but in ponds probably most come from discomposed plants, most likely algae. Can also be produce from fish spawn, slime, etc.

DOC acts as a surfactant, which lowers the surface tension of water which allows bubbles to form and stay formed when air is introduced (waterfall, stream, air pump). Soap is a surfactant and acts the same way.

Solutions...
Forcing lower (by measurement) DOC levels quickly is normally done with an oxidizer. Longer term solutions involved removing organic matter from the pond as quickly as possible so it doesn't decompose into DOC.

Mechanical removal is an easy and safe method. Things like the foam fractionator or protein skimmer shown in this thread or a waterfall catch basin which traps the foam. These are generally used to keep foam off the pond surface although they do reduce DOC levels some what.

Keeping up GH levels can reduce foam. Magnesium and calcium (GH) are + and DOC are -, so magnesium/calcium bind to DOC particles.

I would think as your bog matures it will take care of the docs for you. I have none...

Unfortunately not seeing foam doesn't mean water has low DOC levels. Not seeing foam also doesn't mean that can be attributed to whatever is around like a bog, filter, etc. Not having foam today doesn't mean a pond won't have foam tomorrow.

Bogs can settle particles, but DOC particles are very small. Which is why "dissolved" is used in their name. Bogs can trap and hold dead algae and other suspended particles. As that organic matter sits in the bog it decomposes into DOC. So bogs would be a good source of DOC rather than a solution.